xix, 224 pages : 22 cm

"Mr. Epstein...began this book with the intention of writing a case study of the nature and activity of an extraordinary government commission. He has accomplished this task brilliantly. But in the course of interviewing nearly all members of the [Warren] Commission, and many members of its staff, he discovered that the official version of the Kennedy assassination fails to contend with serious contradictions presented by the evidence. Inquest clearly traces the process by which this official story came into being; it does not indulge in theoretical speculation about a deliberate suppression of crucial evidence. Mr. Epstein instead proposes an explanation based on the concept of "political truth": the Commission, sincerely convinced that the national interest would best be served by the termination of rumors, and predisposed by its make-up and by the pressure of time not to search more deeply, failed to answer some of the essential questions about the tragedy. Inquest includes hitherto unpublished government documents and illustrations. Although the author's revelations are startling, he nowhere makes unsupported claims; his style is cool and objective. A sober, new view of the way the Commission dealt with the central event of our recent history, this book is destined to induce widespread discussion and debate." --Book jacket

Includes bibliographical references (pages 205-219) and index

Introduction by Richard H. Rovere -- Overview: the ten-month investigation -- Political truth -- The dominant purpose -- The vulnerability of facts -- The investigation -- The limits of the investigation -- The limits of the investigators -- The commission hearings -- The hypothesis -- The report -- Writing the report -- The selection process -- The commission's conclusions -- Appendix a: FBI summary report, December 9, 1963 (partial text) -- Appendix b: FBI supplemental report, January 13, 1964 (partial text)

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